Trapped in the NOT Closet
by deadtodd
Summary: It should have been illegal to be trapped anywhere with that guy for more than five minutes. Too bad she was stuck there for nine hours.  Sudden balls of fluff to be expected. Speedy/Artemis
1. Chapter 1

**Grimmy:**_ Originally I was going to upload this entire fic as some sort of extremely long oneshot but I got a little carried away in the prologue :P. Well that and I wanted to put something out today before I headed off to physical therapy. So, this will probably end up being an extremely short chapter fic, no more than five chapters, no less than three. And for once I have to do a disclaimer. I figure it's obvious that I don't own Young Justice but did you all know that I am, in fact, not the owner of Silent Hill? Unbelievable right! _

Artemis just knew it was going to be a bad day, her morning was entirely too good for it not to be. She didn't bump her foot on the night table when she rolled out of that awkward position she'd wound up shifting to in her sleep. She didn't trip over all the mess in her floor, although she did make a mental note to clean that up later in the day. Her long blonde hair didn't get caught in the shower door. Wally didn't greet her with another one of his bad pick up lines, although she did have to admit they were funny, and the boy wonder hadn't eaten all her Apple Jacks.

Mornings usually were the exact opposite of that, only to fall into a relatively good day whether it was spent fighting crime, doing training drills, or goofing off. And while she hadn't been living with her team for very long, a little over a few months really, she'd gotten used to bad mornings. But the few times she endured a good morning, well, everything really sucked the rest of the day and she'd usually go to bed angry at the world and extremely tired.

So why, she had to wonder, didn't she decide to just stay at home when Batman informed them they had another mission. Sure, the big bad bat would be mad but that would be his problem. She could have just blamed it on that _time of the month_ and Dinah would have gladly given anyone who'd opposed her stay a mouthful. But _nooo_, she was restless and wanted to stretch her legs.

She was asking for it big time and boy did she get it.

It was a relatively easy mission. Go in, apprehend, get out. More of a test to see how fast the young heroes could complete the task. What they hadn't been expecting was the vast amount of henchmen, more like poorly made combat robots, the man they were going after had. Eventually the six split up into two person teams to get rid of the pests. And while she'd wanted to be paired with the much more laid back Kald- Aqualad she'd been paired with the one track minded powerhouse of their team.

Nothing against him personally, she actually enjoyed his company most days. But that was at home when he wasn't in smash and destroy mode. Out on the battlefield she definitely preferred Aqualad. They worked well together, often setting each other up for battle success. He was her first pick but he'd gone off with the Earth innocent M'gann.

She would have even preferred working with the Martian girl. No, they weren't the best of friends, something she noticed M'gann tried hard to be, but they made a decent team. It was obvious that the green girl was excited to have another girl to converse with but they hadn't quite found something on common ground other than superhero work. And M'gann found such inappropriate times to try and forge a bond. Artemis did have to admit, she admired the girl for trying so hard. At least she was genuinely sweet.

Working with the boy wonder Robin was more like working alone, aside from her constant worrying. She knew he was experienced, a lot more than anyone on the team but he was so young and small. And he disappeared... A lot. The few times they did work together she almost had a heart attack. These were crooks they were dealing with. She wouldn't put it past them to just snatch the boy up one day and... He was definitely better off working with Kid, the only one who could keep up with him.

Had it not been for Kid Flash's constant wise cracks and attempts at flirting she would have probably had the same problem working with him. He was always moving, always somewhere doing something. It actually surprised her how calm he was when he slept. And while she never worried about him getting caught, that thought actually made her chuckle, she was worried he'd end up in more trouble. It was like he asked for it specifically. No, he _did_ ask for it. The quick boy had quite the mouth on him.

But of course she would have gotten paired with her polar opposite. She used her head, he used his fists. And before she knew it they were separated. She hadn't realized just how far away she'd gone until she was all alone. They were fighting in a hotel that was being completely renovated and she'd wound up in an area that not only looked extremely unfamiliar but it looked extremely old as well. She was reminded of one of the horror movies she'd watched with Robin.

It was quiet. Eerily so. She couldn't even hear her footsteps because of the soft plush carpet. On the bright side she could see a trolley and an elevator not too far off. And if the elevator didn't take her anywhere she could just turn down the hallway in front of it because going straight just wasn't getting her anywhere.

Noise.

The closer she got... She could hear it in the distance, it sounded a little like something breaking and... groaning. Her mind conjured thoughts of dark creatures and she swore mentally at Robin for convincing her to watch that damn Silent Hill movie. If a Nurse hopped out and killed her she was going to haunt the thirteen year old until he died.

She stepped closer to the elevator and soon she was able to see the doors and slightly down the hallway. She screamed when the doors suddenly opened only to notice that a trick arrow had been shot at the down button and opened the metal contraption. An embrarassed blush covered her cheeks and she slapped her forehead. Pyramid Head wasn't coming to kill her after all.

Wait...

Trick arrow...

A bright smile settled on her face as she stepped forward, expecting to see her mentor. "Ollie I wa-"

Only to be crashed into. Right into the elevator. Her head hit the wall almost hard enough to knock her out. Her eyes snapped shut and she heard, it sounded really far off, the door to the elevator close. A thumping noise. And something... She was on something. And something was pressing down on her back.

Artemis blinked rapidly, feeling rather dizzy and nauseous. She rolled onto the floor of the elevator, away from whatever that was. That pain in her head... Why was it so bright in here? She winced and opened her eyes to see what hit her so hard, pretty sure that it wasn't an enemy. If it had been she would have probably been dead by now.

"-okay? Hello? Are you okay kid?" It must have been speaking before. It's voice had suddenly faded in, past that blinding pain and odd whirring noise that seemed hell bent on giving her a migraine.

She licked her lips and blinked slowly, her vision was getting less blurry now. Wait... She gagged a little. She must have split her lip or something because the sharp metallic taste of blood was assaulting her taste buds. She blinked again. All of a sudden a bit of blood didn't matter because the person who'd just become vision was most certainly not Oliver Queen.

And if that loud strained noise and sudden shaking and stillness of the elevator was anything to go off of, she was trapped in this thing.

Trapped.

With _not_ Ollie.

In an elevator that no one probably knew existed.

Fuck.

**Grimmy:**_ I already know where I'm going with this so updates shouldn't be too far around the corner. And well, if they are, I can always upload something fluffy to keep you all occupied. The only trouble I could see myself having with this is future dialog, and there's going to be a lot of that. Cookies to whoever can guess who 'Not Ollie' is, although it's pretty friggen' obvious. Also, woo for the Silent Hill reference. I loved that movie. It's not often that you get an actual game to movie transition thats good. AND! This is in no way related to Trade. I have a ONESHOT sequel to that. So yes, these aren't related at all. _

_Last thing before I ask you all to review. If you like this I'd advise you to put it on alerts. Because, like I said before, this will be a short chapter fic. OHOHOH! One more thing. Don't forget to check out the YJ Challenge Forums. The link is on my page and if you have any questions feel free to ask them there. And if you do decide to wander over there don't forget to vote on your favorite pairing in the poll on my page. Enough of my shameless advertisements!_

_Toss a review my way baby ;). And I'll toss... Well, hmm, I don't- OH! I'll toss you some skittles and chocolate animal crackers. C:_


	2. Chapter 2

**Grimmy:**_ FINALLY! I'm back and posting the second chapter. Oh yes! Go me! 2,600+ words of pure Roy and Arty interaction. S/N: A majority of the italics used here are to show her thoughts._

* * *

Artemis huffed angrily, a dusky pink flush coating her currently puffy cheeks. It had already been half an hour and she still hadn't been able to force her way out of the _stupid_ elevator. And he just stood there, leaning against the wall, a frown marring his sharp features. Not doing anything. She growled angrily and kicked the door again in frustration, not that it helped much. It didn't budge, not even in the slightest, and now her foot was throbbing.

So, in addition to being trapped with an unemotional, and when he was emotional she didn't like it much more, jackass, she probably had a broken foot. She swore aloud.

"Can't you do anything?" she finally growled as she turned around to face him. He didn't say anything but she knew, she just knew he was arching an eyebrow behind that domino mask. He simply sighed loudly through his nose before pushing himself away from the wall, stepping towards her and tapping the end of his bow against the elevator door.

"Well, I tried."

Artemis was not amused.

**The first hour**

_I have decided to start some sort of mental diary to pass the time until I get out of this hellish oven. Who's idea was it to put an operating, poorly operating, elevator in the soon to be destroyed crappy side of the hotel? Note to self, bathe once you get home. Bathe a lot. This place is just disgusting._

Artemis was pretty sure that she wasn't going to get out of there using brute force and _Speedy_, he'd insisted she call him Red Arrow but she refused to do so, didn't really seem eager to help. In fact, he hadn't helped at all. He said that he preferred watching her make a fool of herself in an attempt to escape. She was pretty sure that he'd gotten just what he wanted.

When prying the thick steel doors open didn't work she tried to pull them apart with her hands resulting in two ripped nails. They'd stop bleeding no more than ten minutes ago, not that she knew the time. Neither of them had a way to tell time. Her cellphone had such a bad signal that it died when she tried to call out and her communicator didn't really fair any better. She hadn't even seen the much taller redhead try and call for help. It was like he knew something she didn't and Artemis didn't like not being in the know.

After the attempt at power housing her way out failed she decided to rest a bit before jumping up and down in the elevator. It didn't move and suddenly drop like she hoped it would and she found herself disappointed and even angrier. It didn't help that _Speedy_ had that toothy smirk on his face as he watched her bounce all over the place. Who the hell flashed their teeth when they smirked anyways! She wished she could smack the teeth right out of his mouth.

She'd just finished trying to shoot her way out of the elevator; she didn't get very far with that one after she almost shot a trick arrow filled with tear gas. _Speedy_ quickly snatched the arrow, and her bow, away from her. Artemis was also unsuccessful in getting them back. Her head hadn't stopped pounding since she realized where she was and all she wanted to do was sleep forever.

She couldn't even lay down in the elevator because not only was it filthy but she was forced to share her space with a teenage boy. One she didn't know at that. And he _was_ Ollie's ward. She could only imagine the things that were running through his head. She shuddered and tried to forget that he still hadn't stopped staring at her. It was unnerving.

She glared, it looked more like a pouty leer thanks to her slightly swollen bottom lip, up at him and folded her arms across her chest. He didn't look fazed but that toothy smirk did return and Artemis had to resist the urge to actually go through with smacking the teeth out of his mouth. Even when he didn't talk he somehow managed to get on her nerves. It was official. He was now on her long, very long, list of people she hated.

He yawned and scratched his nose, not bothering to attempt and dispel the awkward, at least Artemis thought it was, silence.

She moved him to the top of her hate list.

**The second hour**

_Hello mental diary. How are you today? I'm peachy aside from the fact that I've been stuck in this god forsaken elevator for at least three days. Oh, by the way mental diary, if you get the chance I'd like for you to punch my brain in the face. You see, my brain has taken it upon its self to drive me insane with it's terrible pounding. Feel free to ease my torture session and help me out any time now._

_No?_

_Okay. I totally understand. _

_On another note I think this hunk of junk moved. And I'm pretty sure the team noticed that I haven't reported back for at least a week. I'm sure they'll be here to rescue me by the end of the month... This is starting to become really sad and I'm obviously insane._

"So why are you here?"

That one innocent question caused Artemis to nearly jump out of her skin. It took a few seconds for her to regulate her heartbeat but as soon as she did she went back to glaring at the older hero. That toothy smirk was starting to look more like a toothy grin which was equally frustrating. That meant he thought she was funny. Her nose crinkled as she frowned. "You first," she responded.

"I'm here because the elevator doors are jammed," he replied coolly. She could tell he was arching an eyebrow behind his domino mask again and she hated to admit that she probably would have said something along the same lines.

"That's not funny."

"Well I'm no comedian."

"Yes," she finally said, "But why are you in this hotel? What are you doing here? And I swear if you say something stupid like breathing I'll-"

"Relax blondie. This _is_ Star City. I was checking up on a disturbance in the area and I decided to stop by. You looked like you needed the help." He looked thoughtful for a moment before focusing on Artemis again. Another yawn. "So why exactly are you here?"

Artemis' blue eyes narrowed and she tilted her head upwards defiantly. "Oh, you know, just wandering around before I was tackled by some ginger with a bad haircut." She folded her arms back across her chest and smirked at him, obviously pleased with her response. "You know how it is right?"

She stopped smirking when she saw that toothy smirk creep back onto his face. Again. She growled softly in frustration. "I can't say that I do," he finally said. "Although this guy sounds pretty damn good looking. If you keep blushing like that I'll have to assume you have a crush on him or something. Kids have the uncanny habit of insulting the ones they like the most."

Artemis' eyes widened as she processed what he said before a dark blush stained her cheeks. She ahemed roughly and forced the tattle-tell color away before resuming her glare. "Don't assume. You'll make an ass out of you and me... But mostly you."

He actually started to laugh, not a tiny chuckle but a deep, powerful laugh that actually made him shake all over. She wasn't sure if he was laughing at what she said or her in general. It made her feel a little self conscious and she shifted awkwardly. Not that what he thought of her actually mattered but she didn't exactly want him to think something was wrong with her. She pulled her long blonde ponytail over her shoulder and started to toy with the end of it.

"Are you always so-"

"-Charming?" she quickly interrupted him. She nodded her head. "Very."

He laughed again, although not as hard as before. Artemis frowned. He wasn't smirking or grinning anymore. Just smiling at her. Even then he radiated cockiness and confidence. It was almost... attractive. She groaned mentally and resisted the sudden urge to punch the forever returning pink stains from her cheeks. "I was thinking more along the lines of cantankerous and bitchy."

She bit back her angry retort and just scowled at him. _Way to ruin everything Speedy_.

**The third hour**

_Dear mental diary, I hate you. Correction, I just hate everything in general right now. I know I'm not the nicest person in the world, not by a long shot, but I can't imagine why God would want to punish me like this. I'd honestly rather break my collar bone again. Did I mention that my head still hurts. Thanks random migraines, you don't make me want to punch babies in the face. You make me want to punch old women in the face._

_I just realized something... That bastard called me a kid! I am not a kid!_

"I'm not a kid!"

Artemis flashed _Speedy_ a dirty look. She wasn't sure if he saw it or not since they'd sat down quite some time ago and he hadn't moved since. He didn't sound like he was sleeping... Her eyebrows furrowed and her face relaxed as she leaned closer to him to inspect his still form.

His back was against the corner of the elevator and he wasn't leaning completely against it, his upper back was the only part of his body that actually touched the walls. His head bobbed forward a bit, almost as if it was suspended in thin air. He didn't fold his legs but they were pulled close to his body. And if she looked hard enough she could just make out one of his arms cradling the other. In fact, she could actually see that the one being held was an odd purple color and looked a little lumpy.

She wondered how she didn't notice that before. It looked broken. Even still, he hadn't indicated that he was in pain and they had been there for a couple of hours. Artemis wasn't really sure how long they'd been trapped in the elevator. At times it seemed like only a few minutes had passed but at the moment it felt like days had gone by. She was so sleepy and her stomach had started to growl every now and then.

"Turn around."

Artemis jumped and nearly slammed her head back against the wall. _Speedy's_ head had snapped up and she just knew that he was looking at her. It didn't matter that his head was tilted towards the ceiling. She yawned and blinked a couple of times, trying to think of some sort of defiant response but she finally settled on, "No."

"Whatever then. I warned you." The redheaded hero climbed to his feet, she tried to get a peek at his arm but he turned slightly to the side and it sagged slightly behind him. Of course, this was all deemed unimportant when she heard a loud zipping noise rip through the air and noticed that he was undoing his fly. Her eyes widened and everything after that was pure female instinct.

She rolled onto her back and pushed her lower body off the ground. Her feet connected hard with his side and he slammed back against the wall. Right on that broken arm. The scream that echoed in the suddenly too tight elevator was so raw that it made her tremble. She leaped to her feet and started to back against the wall, as far away from _Red Arrow_ as she could manage. Only, she didn't make it.

He'd snatched her up by her long blonde hair. She could feel tears prickling behind her eyelids, his grip was so tight, and she wondered if he could snap her neck in this awkward position. She didn't put it past him. How he managed to be so powerful when he was obviously injured left her slightly baffled.

"STOP! STOP, STOP, STOP!"

"What the... fuck did... you kick me for?" Artemis had never been afraid of a question before... It had to be his tone because she was halfway near wetting herself.

She could practically hear him grinding his teeth back and forth, just barely managing to suppress his rage. With the way his grip was some how tightening on her hair she was pretty sure he was close to snapping. She tried to relax, hoping he'd just let go. "I-I thought you were trying to rape me. Let me g-" She was suddenly pushed away and her scalp was no longer throbbing with intense pain. It still hurt though.

Artemis swallowed as she watched the redhead. He rubbed his eyes with his good hand and pulled a bottle from his quiver. He didn't look as angry as he had a few seconds ago but his expression was strained. He was a lot better at hiding his pain than she could be.

"What are you doing?" she asked softly. She swallowed and waited for a response. He'd unscrewed the lid off the jar by placing it on his shoulder and holding it in place with his head so he'd only need one arm. He started to fiddle with his fly again and at the first sight skin and what she was sure was red hair she turned around. Fast. Her cheeks had never felt so warm and she knew she was definitely blushing.

"Pissin' in a jar," he responded gruffly.

"YOU ARE NOT PISSING IN HERE!" Artemis started to turn back around but she thought better of it half way through and decided to stay facing the wall. _Naturally red_. That was not helping. She wished her brain would just shut the hell up.

"Shush, your harpy voice is making it hard to-" He sighed and she could hear a tinkling sound.

"Dammit Harper! Cut that out!" Ooh, she really wished she had something to throw at him. Preferably a brick. She groaned and smacked her forehead against the elevator wall. Not a good idea. Her headache instantly flared up again.

"Shut up! Almost there, almost-" Another sigh.

The tinkling sound ended and Artemis could just make out a zipping noise. For a second she thought that he was doing something that definitely couldn't be mistaken for urinating. Oh God. She groaned again and shook her head before punching _Speedy_ in his good arm. "You're fucking sick."

He only laughed, she noticed that this one sounded a bit less joyful than the other one, and placed the jar back in his quiver. "You never know when that'll come in handy. You wanna make one?" It almost sounded like... Like he was flirting. Artemis clenched her fists and punched him in the chest.

"NO!"

He shrugged and they resumed their positions on the floor, settling back into that same silence. Only now he was staring at her. She couldn't see his eyes but she could just tell that he was watching. She squirmed, somehow even more uncomfortable than she was before.

"What?"

"Yeah, you definitely aren't a kid." That toothy smirk.

He _was_ flirting.

**Grimmy:**_ First things first before I forget them. Notice how whenever the name Speedy is used it's in italics. It's meant to be implied that this is completely out of spite. Also, notice how when she's afraid she called him Red Arrow and how when she's extremely flustered/angry she calls him by his last name. Just figured I should point that out. _

_Second, it took me two whole days of almost none stop writing to finish this. Mostly because I'm more than likely sick. If the vomit and the exhaustion weren't signs then the dizziness definitely is. I feel like CRAP. So if you see any mistakes or awkward wording in here I would really appreciate it if you could point it out for me. Many thanks. _

_Finally. I'm sorry it took so long for me to update. I was supposed to post this yesterday but this is a lot for me and I do happen to have a very short attention span. Not to mention I got caught up in that Wally/Arty fic. Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about this and I will finish it. The next two updates will more than likely be sporadic but then again, it seems like I can never do anything on time. _

_There's another video game reference in here, cookies for anyone who can guess what it is. I'll even give you all a hint: Sniper uses that shit and it's really fucking gross. Reviews would be greatly appreciated as well, hence the reason I always reply to them. And there's a new poll on my page for those of you who don't already know. You all should check that out along with the Young Justice Challenge Forums. Last thing. I figured this would amuse you all. A convo that occurred when I posted that bit about Roy pissing in MSN. shintas1st is Wally, I'm Dick, and Jay is Roy~_

Wallace Rudolph West says:  
*smacks medal to the ground and pisses on it*

Roy William Harper says:  
MY MEDAL  
YOU FIEND  
/PUNCHES YOU IN YOUR BLADDER  
MAY YOU NEVER PEE NORMALLY

Wallace Rudolph West says:  
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF

Roy William Harper says:  
/AGAIN/.

Richard 'Dick' John Grayson says:  
LMFAO

Wallace Rudolph West says:  
NOW IT COMES OUT LIKE A SPRINKLER  
WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT

Roy William Harper says:  
BECAUSE.  
I  
CAN.  
MOTHAFUCKAAAA  
/PUNCHES A PENGUIN IN YOUR DIRECTION  
/FLIPS A TABLE  
/SMACKS A PEN OUT OF AN OLD MAN'S HAND AND LAUGHS  
GUFFAW  
GUFFAW

Wallace Rudolph says:  
NO ALFREDS' PEN


	3. Chapter 3

**Grimmy:**_ I'VE FINALLY UPDATED! I just want you all to know that I did not forget about this fic but I'll explain just what happened in the final author's note. Just, thanks so much to you all who decided to continue reading this. __On a side note, those of you who are interested, I have a tumblr now and I'll be posting sneak peeks there every now and then. The link is on my page. Oh, and because she's so important, I'm dedicating this to Astoria Goode. Because she distracted me with awesomeness the entire way(as in all day while I wrote over half of this chapter). I thank you for the laughs my HOTHOTHOT over 100F friend. You get all the hearts._

**The fourth hour**

_I'm _not_ crazy no matter _what_ I say and this place isn't getting smaller. We are _not_ going to breathe up all the air and we are _not_ going to die. And I'm_ not_ going to puke. I shouldn't have eaten breakfast because I think I _am_ going to puke. Distraction. That is what I need... Dammit. WORK BRAIN WORK!_

…

_WHY IS IT SO DAMN MUGGY IN THIS ELEVATOR!_

"Are you okay?"

Artemis' head snapped up and her blue eyes focused on the vigilante across from her. She groaned softly and resisted the urge to gag. The scent of vinegar and mildew somehow found its way through the air filter she'd created with her hand and she wound up gagging anyways. She couldn't understand how anyone could eat those salt and vinegar chips. The smell was terrible and she wrinkled her nose out of habit just thinking about them. She huffed and covered her face, hoping that would somehow help block out the smell.

"If you feel like you're going to puke then take this."

She looked up again only to twist her head away from the bag of chips in his hand. She squinted and her upper lip curled comically. "Get that stuff away from me," she whined, weakly pushing at his knees. Artemis groaned and curled back up. She took a moment to glare at him before burying her face back against her knees. Tears collected on the edge of her eyelids as another burst of pain shot through her head. That... Was not getting any less painful.

"You should eat something." He paused, probably thinking of something else stupid to say. Even if it was getting hard to ignore the poorly timed low, long grumble from her stomach. Apparently, it wanted to ignore the strong smells in the elevator and request food anyways. "And try not to fall asleep."

She lifted her head slightly, her blue eyes narrow and glittering dangerously. "Like I would fall asleep in a place like this with a guy like you." Her following snort was obnoxious and the side of her upper lip pulled up into a sneer that looked entirely too practiced to be uncommon.

His domino shifted, arching upwards on one side, indicating that he was raising an eyebrow. "Don't flatter yourself, you're giving off the impression that I might actually be interested in feeling you up. And really, that's almost implying that I'm the untrustworthy one here." He balled up the empty potato chips bag and sat it beside his leg. If it weren't for the fact that she knew he'd have a witty retort waiting she would have called him out on littering.

Artemis huffed angrily, leaning forward a bit as she leered at him. "I don't trust you. I don't like you." She leaned back against the wall, resting her head on her knees again. Tears started to collect in her eyes and she bit her lip. What she wouldn't kill for an aspirin.

He was quiet for entirely too long and she could hear him shifting, doing _whatever_. "Yeah, I suppose I'd have trouble trusting a perfectly decent guy if I were Ollie's_ niece_ too." And the way he said that... She couldn't help but to imagine him rolling his dumb eyes, which were probably red in color. Since she was completely convinced he was part of some sort of evil, annoy people to death society. And maybe that was an over exaggeration but her head was hurting and her stomach was empty. Those seemed like completely plausible reasons.

Her eyes widened and she flushed, feeling extremely uncomfortable. She didn't exactly have a comeback for something like that. How could she? "God, you seriously don't ever shut up, do you?" she said, irritation obvious. She peeked from behind her knees to see him frown.

"I'm sorry..."

"You should be," she wanted to say.

"But are you on your period?"

Anger flashed in her eyes and her head snapped up. She bared her teeth and clenched her fists. "Excuseme?" Her voice was sharp, high pitched, and ended with a slight growl. And he had the nerve to look completely indifferent. She was about ready to snap and leap across the elevator to strangle the life out of his stupid, _stupid_ body.

He shrugged and tilted his head to the side before nodding a little. "I can't really fault you for being so grumpy if you're PMSing. You're probably, _maybe_, okay when you aren't... Maybe..." He frowned a little.

Artemis clenched her teeth so tightly that her gums started to hurt and exhaled harshly. She trembled as she forced out another rough breath. Because really, he was asking for it and she was so tempted to just beat him to death. Preferably with some blunt object. Like a really big pipe. Even a crowbar would suffice. "Just. Shut. Up. Do not talk. At all. Ever."

He almost looked like he was pouting.

**The fifth hour**

_Why am I so tired? Really want to sleep. Brain journal, tell me a story. Keep me awake. And stop making the goddamn... wait. Why the hell are we still in this elevator? Blink. Just blink and remember. Blink and, oh, yeah. Noooo, don't growl out loud. He'll look over here with that stupid mask and stupid hair... Stupid. _

_Ah dammit, he's looking anyways. Just glare. Yeah, that'll show him not to... look over here. Wish he'd stop smirking. That's not cool, he needs to be intimidated. BE AFRAID. _

…_. Crap._

"Yes?" And really, Artemis didn't mean to actually say that aloud. She was trying to ignore him after all. It really didn't seem like her mouth wanted to adhere to that. She started to scowl but it came out as a small, somewhat confused frown.

He shifted uncomfortably, or at least as uncomfortably as he could manage while still looking entirely to not... uncomfortable. And that didn't make any sense to Artemis but it was the only was the only way she could describe the way he moved. Uncomfortably not uncomfortable, or something like that. "Bored. Silence isn't really appreciated right now."

"You really want to talk?" she asked, her frown deepening. She had every right to be skeptical and was more than happy to exercise that. And it wasn't just because every time he opened his dumb mouth she got angry. What would they talk about in the first place? Archery would only get them so far and she had a feeling that he'd somehow make that frustratingly annoying too.

He shrugged. "Sure, why not."

She really wanted to slap herself. Why ask him anything, ever, at all? "Probably because you're the most annoying person ever and every time you talk it's something beyond the acceptable level of stupid." At least she'd managed to get that all out with a straight face.

He stared at her. Just stared. And stared some more. He was probably blinking slowly behind the protective lenses of his domino mask and she sort of wished she'd continued to alter her costume so that her eyes would be hidden too. Things were a lot easier when people couldn't see your eyes. She supposed that was why certain people chose certain masks.

Kid Flash's expressions were always obvious, costume or not, because he left his face so open. Meanwhile, his best friend Robin always kept his eyes hidden and that made him so much harder to read. She was willing to bet there were even times where Kid couldn't pick up on his subtle expression changes either. And Kaldur didn't wear a mask at all. He was open in a completely different way. It was almost calming.

She thumbed the green hem of her mask and lightly scraped her teeth over the side of her lip. And even still he hadn't stopped staring. It was starting to make her feel... awkward. Not in a good way either. She didn't think so anyways.

"How is the team doing?" he finally asked, lips pursed slightly. She'd never really seen a poker face before but she was pretty sure that he'd completely mastered it. His expression was blank, telling nothing and it made her a little suspicious. Because really, what did he care?

"If you really wanna know you should join them. I'm sure they'd love that," she said with an exaggerated eye roll. It wasn't entirely untrue. She'd grown on the team, made her own place, and as far as she knew they enjoyed her company most of the time. They probably wouldn't jump all over the idea of _him_ joining the team, finally, but she doubted they would turn him down.

He was quiet for a moment, frowning a bit. "They already have a decent archer, I'm not needed." Decent her ass. She scoffed and glared at him and his frown deepened. "Relax, I didn't mean that as an insult... Really." He actually seemed sincere. She swallowed and didn't say anything.

"Soooo..."

Artemis curled her toes and huffed softly, not quite sure what to say next. "You know Robin's identity?" It was random but now that she thought about it, she was a little curious. As far as she knew, the younger boy had only told his best friend but she suspected that Kaldur knew. It would only be fitting, they did all know each other before the team was formed.

He actually smiled, well grinned, flashing his seemingly perfect teeth. She ran her tongue over her own, memories flashing to a time in which she'd actually required braces. Thankfully those years were long behind her. "He hasn't told you yet?" It was a tease, he was dangling that bit of information in front of her but she was determined not to bite.

"Nope. So I guess you do know? Figures," she said with a half hearted attempt at not caring. She rolled her eyes a bit, eyelashes fluttering as she looked off to the side. Not that there was really anything to really look at aside from peeling wallpaper and half ripped up carpet. She looked back at him out of the corner of her eyes, a little, very little, smile tugging at her lips. Because this was kinda, sorta, a little nice... Maybe.

Slightly less agitating at best. Yes, that was an appropriate description.

He tilted his head a little. "Yeah, it was accident really. A while back, around when I started being serious about this superhero thing. Kinda easy to forget that he was just a kid." He shook his head and his smile softened. "Felt so guilty after I found out that he went and told Kid." And he actually chuckled a bit.

And yeah, she had to admit...

That was nice.

**The sixth hour**

_You know, most people don't realize how dangerous that hero thing is. I mean, sure, they know heroes risk their life and stuff but not all of them have super powers and stuff. They can't do stuff like lift buildings or fly. They can get hurt... just as easily as I can and that's a little unsettling because how do they do it? Keep going. _

_I dislocated my shoulder once when I was nine. That hurt a lot. A whole lot... So I quit ballet. They don't quit though..._

Artemis frowned as she chanced a glance at _his_ arm. She had her fair shape of scrapes and bruises but that... looked so painful. And he wasn't, as far as she could tell, even batting an eyelash. He just sat there, head tilted back against the once beautiful golden wallpaper. Legs bent close to him, one on its side. He'd probably done this before. Something like it anyways.

"Your arm," she muttered. It didn't feel right, not saying anything about it. But now that she'd pointed it out, she felt awkward. Like it wasn't any of her business. He didn't need her concern, even if she didn't wish to express it, he was a pro. That was just the way it was.

His head lobbed forward and he exhaled softly, through his mouth, she noticed. "What about it?" She wondered if his moods always shifted so easily. Just a while ago he'd been trying to get along, despite her verbal jabs. And now he seemed... Well upset didn't seem right. Agitated?

She yawned and tried her hardest to ignore that. "Looks gross. Aren't you worried about it healing wrong or something?" It would have to be broken again once they get out of there. She wasn't really sure how long it took before bones started mending, she was trained to move, not take hits.

He shrugged and sighed. "You tired?"

Just the word tired made her want to yawn. Because tired really felt like a bit of an understatement. Her eyelids were heavy and she wanted to sleep forever. And maybe even a bit longer still. Maybe... Forever didn't seem quite like long enough. "Maybe... So what."

He was quiet for a while, repositioning his arm. "Sleep then. You look like you need it."

"Thanks," she responded dryly. She slumped forward, resting her chin on her knees. "Don't trust you, remember?"

"And why would I want to hurt you?" That was a pretty good question. He _was_ supposed to be one of the good guys. But that knowledge didn't stretch very far. Good guys were only so good, and that's when people were watching. People weren't watching here which meant he could be as regular as any other guy. His getup excluded.

She sighed loudly and closed her eyes slowly. "Dunno. You aren't exactly a goody two shoes." Not from what she'd heard anyways. He had quite the reputation with females in particular. Of course that could have just been idle gossip but she doubted that.

"No... I'm not. But I'm no creep either."

"Riiiight. And these blonde locks came from a bottle."

"And to think I thought you were natural." He laughed softly.

"Mmnhmm." So tired... So sleepy...

**Grimmy:**_ Okay, so for the longest time I had a majority of the fourth hour written. I was stuck on it, for about three months really. And when I finally remembered just where I was going to go, writers block struck. This honestly would have been out about a month earlier but as soon as I got back into the mood to finish writing this shit happened. I was banned from the computer. My cell was disconnected. And now I'm staying with my best friends. Sooo, lots of shit excluding my utterly awesome birthday. WOOT! So close to being legal. I really do thank you faithful readers. I know it's been a long time and even still, I should have buckled down sooner and finished this. _

_OHOHOH! And next chapter will be the last chapter. I'm thinking about writing an epilogue but I'm not entirely sure about it yet so opinions are appreciated._

_Last thing, I was so eager to post this that I didn't go back and proofread so it would be appreciated if you all could point out any errors to me. I'll probably go back and revise it later._


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